Race Report - Freeze Your Bunz 5K

Normally I would not run a race called "Freeze Your Bunz" because intentionally misspelled words are one of my biggest pet peeves. But this is a "local" race (within half an hour) and I had some friends run/walking it, so I figured I better show up.

The race is an out and back on a flat, paved bike trail. Of course, in the middle of February, paved bike trail means snowmobile trail, which means um, snow. I wore my yak trax, which was a good choice. The entire course was pretty deep snow and not as packed down as I thought it would be. It sort of felt like running in sand. Only with a lot more clothes on.

(That's me - note the lovely snow!)
I started near the front because it looked like a lot of people were planning on walking and I didn't want to have to try to dodge a bunch of walkers on a narrow trail. This worked out well - I didn't have to dodge anyone, and I didn't get passed by very many people. I spent most of my time trying to find the most hard packed snow. About a quarter mile from the turn around, the snow was very fluffy and difficult to run through. I felt my energy draining and just focused on making it to the orange cones.

After the turn I had to slog back through a quarter mile of yuckiness, but then started seeing my friends who were still on the way out. That kept me moving! Once I got closer to the finish, I felt like I had a little in me to kick and then got bogged down in the snow again. I felt like I was barely moving. I knew I was one of the first few women, so I was super bummed when another girl passed me within a tenth of a mile to the finish. But I just kept pushing and crossed the line in 26:06. Good enough for fifth place woman overall and second in my age group. Gotta love small races!

I was really happy with my time given the snowy conditions. And, after a week of minimal running, it felt great to get out and run hard. I'm spending the rest of the day relaxing (okay, cleaning and doing laundry) to get ready for my big ski race tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be back with a positive race report from that adventure. I am definitely nervous. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!